1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to refuse vehicles used in residential curbside waste collection. More specifically, the invention relates to an automated container loader for mounting to the side of a refuse vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the waste collection industry, it is well known to use a vehicle equipped with a specialized body to collect the contents of curbside residential waste containers and compact the contents prior to disposal. The vehicle typically includes a cab containing the controls to operate the vehicle and a chassis having a front and rear set of wheels. The vehicle body is mounted on top of the chassis and has at its front end a receiving hopper for collection of the waste and at its rear end a storage compartment for compaction of the collected waste.
In order to load the vehicle, the curbside residential waste containers are, for example, manually lifted and downwardly tipped into an opening through the side of the receiving hopper. In order to facilitate this activity, the receiving hopper is often at a lower elevation with respect to the storage compartment. This is commonly referred to in the waste collection industry as a xe2x80x9cdrop-deckxe2x80x9d vehicle body.
An automated container loader may be used to eliminate the need for a drop-deck vehicle body. These types of devices typically consist of a mechanized lift arm having an attached gripping element with a pair of gripping jaws. The device is capable of grasping, lifting, and emptying the residential waste container over the side of the receiving hopper and returning the emptied container to the curbside.
It is desirable that a waste collection vehicle be capable of carrying a large load of waste while remaining stable during transit. To accomplish this, it is important that the vehicle body be positioned as far forward on the vehicle chassis as possible. This allows the center of gravity of the vehicle to move longitudinally forward, distributing some of the weight to the front set of wheels, increasing the weight carrying capacity of the vehicle and improving the vehicle""s road stability.
Ideally, this means that the vehicle body abuts or is at least in close proximity to the vehicle cab. In order that the vehicle body may be mounted immediately rearward of the vehicle cab, the automated container loader is preferably located directly adjacent the side of the receiving hopper and attached to the vehicle chassis. Furthermore, the automated container loader is desirably located at substantially the longitudinal midpoint of the receiving hopper. This allows a simple lift arm to be used that pivots only in the vertical plane, without any need for movement along the length of the vehicle.
When not in use, the gripping jaws are normally stowed in the open position. To prevent interference with the vehicle cab, the distance between the free ends of the gripping jaws, or the longitudinal span of the gripping jaws, must be reduced. It is known in the prior art to use multi-section folding jaws to accomplish this reduction in distance between the free ends of the open gripping jaws. These types of jaws are complicated and expensive to construct. They may require additional hydraulic cylinders to operate the gripping element. Moreover, folding of the jaws increases the overall thickness of the container loader when stowed, causing it to protrude outwardly from the width of the vehicle.
The width of road traveling vehicles is regulated in most jurisdictions; accordingly, the container loader cannot protrude past the regulated width when in the stowed position. To comply with these regulations, vehicles equipped with side mounted container loaders having multi-section gripping jaws often also have recessed or narrow receiving hoppers to accommodate road width regulations. A disadvantage of a narrow receiving hopper is that the receiving hopper packing blade cannot travel the full length of the vehicle body to function as an ejector for stored waste.
An alternative approach is to provide a side mounted container loader having a thin overall width so as not to protrude past the regulated road width of the vehicle. This allows the vehicle to have a regular width receiving hopper, thereby enabling use of the receiving hopper packing blade as an ejector. In order to have a thin overall width, multi-section folding gripping jaws cannot be used and an alternative approach must be devised.
The present invention seeks to reduce the distance between the free ends of the gripping jaws while overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages of folding jaws, such as mechanical complexity and excessive width, thereby allowing the receiving hopper to have the same width as the storage compartment.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an automated container loader for a refuse vehicle having a lift arm and opposing first and second jaw means for gripping and releasing a refuse container. Each of the opposing jaw means has a first free end and second opposite end pivotally attached to the end of the lift arm at, respectively, a first and second pivot location on the lift arm and each jaw means is hydraulically operable to open and close. The improvement comprises a cross-pivot arrangement for each jaw means wherein the first and second pivot locations are transposed for each of the jaws to thereby reduce the ordinary distance between the free ends of the jaws when in the open position. The jaws are adapted to open and close without coming into contact with one another.
According to another aspect of the invention, each of the jaw means includes a flexible belt having a first end attached to the free end of the jaw means and a second end attached to the end of the lift arm. The belt is located inward of each jaw means and tensioned between the ends to engage the refuse container.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the first jaw means comprises a single jaw member and a flexible belt and the second jaw means comprises a pair of substantially parallel jaw members and flexible belts in spaced apart vertical relation to each other.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, each of the jaw members are vertically aligned with reference to each other such that the free ends of the jaw members may pass between one another to intersect.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, each flexible belt is engaged against the refuse container to thereby secure the refuse container between the belts.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the automated container loader comprises a vertical frame element having upper and lower ends and a hydraulic lift cylinder having fixed and extendable ends. The fixed end of the lift cylinder is pivotally attached to the lower end of the vertical frame element and the extendable end is pivotally attached to the lift arm. The lift arm has first and second ends, the first end pivotally attached to the upper end of the vertical frame element, the second end pivotally attached to each jaw means. The hydraulic lift cylinder is operable to vertically pivot the lift arm, thereby changing the elevation of the refuse container.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the automated container loader comprises a tipping link member having first and second ends, the first end pivotally attached to the upper end of the vertical frame member, the second end pivotally attached to the jaw means. The tipping link member is operable to downwardly pivot the refuse container in response to vertical pivoting of the lift arm.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an automated container loader for a refuse vehicle having a lift arm and opposing first and second jaw members for gripping a refuse container, each opposing jaw member having a free end and an attached end. The attached end of the first jaw member is pivotally attached to the end of the lift arm at a first pivot location and the attached end of the second jaw member is pivotally attached to the end of the lift arm at a second pivot location. Each jaw member is hydraulically operable to close and open in order to grip and release, respectively, the refuse container. The improvement comprises a cross-pivot arrangement for each jaw member wherein the attached end of the first jaw member is pivotally attached to the end of the lift arm at the second pivot location and the attached end of the second jaw member is pivotally attached to the end of the lift arm at the first pivot location to thereby reduce the ordinary distance between the free ends of the jaw members when in the open position. The jaw members are adapted to open and close without coming into contact with one another.
Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.